Samurai Swords Terminology

bakufu
Japanese military rule; rule of the shogun

budo
The Way of combat; a name adopted in the 20th century for martial arts in general with an emphasis on their peaceful aspects

bushi
Warrior; name given to all the warriors who made up families with a warrior tradition

bushido
Way of the warrior; a code of honor and social behavior; succeeded the unwritten code of the Way of the bow and the horse

daimyo
a feudal lord; maintained a great number of samurai in their service, who all swore an oath of allegiance to them according to the rules of Bushido

ken-jutsu
The warrior art of the sword; art of using the sword as soon as it is drawn from the scabbard, in order to attack the enemy; transformed into the art of kendo

kendo
Way of the sword; a martial art (budo) of using the sword (ken). This art was developed from the earliest times by the warriors (bushi) of Japan, and from the 14th century on by the samurai. Ken-jutsu was prohibited in 1876 when the samurai were forbidden to carry swords, but was transformed into a martial sport (kendo) for physical and mental training of the young.

naginata
weapon used by foot soldiers against horsemen or to cut the tendons of horses or to disembowel them; also favorite weapon of the wives of samurai and of warrior monks

ninja
a group of men and women specially trained for espionage and assassination; generally drawn from the lower classes and used by the daimyo to assassinate enemies and penetrate enemy fortresses

ronin
during the Tokugawa period, name given to all bushi and samurai who did not serve a particular master, either because the master had died or because his lands had been confiscated. A number of these ronin became martial arts teachers or began some other job which was compatible with their samurai status (e.g., bodyguards).

samurai
a class of bushi (warriors). The original samurai were there for the protection of their lord and were especially trained in martial arts. Later the name was given to all bushi of a certain rank belonging to warrior families

seppuku
the act of ritual suicide performed by the samurai (The expression hara-kiri, to cut the abdomen, more widely used in the West, is considered more vulgar.)

shogun
title given by the emperor to the daimyo who showed himself to be the richest and the most powerful of all the lords

so-jutsu
techniques of using the lance, and performed wearing the ancient armor of the samurai

More Vocabulary Terms

Unokubi-zukuri, which is found in short swords (tanto) after the late Kamakura period.

Shobu-zukuri, which was popular in the Muromachi period and generally, found in short blades.
Moro-ha, which is found in the tanto from the mid-Muromachi period. Straight blades with two cutting edges are known as ken.

Kata-kiri-ba, which is found in the short blades and was popular in the late Kamakura and the Momoyama period.

Kata-shinogi, the blades are generally short.

Hita-zukuri, which is the most common type for short blades without ridgeline.
Besides, there are five different types of construction of the blades:

Maru-gitae, which is with one grade of steel and used for mass production. Usually the swords reveal a smooth, grainless appearance on their surfaces.

Wariba-gitae, which is a better construction than Maru0gitae because harder blade-steel is applied to the blade.

Makuri-gitae, which is with the soft core that, surrounded by hard steel.

Hon-sanmai-awase-gitae, which is the skin steel cover the soft core and harder blade steel.

Shiho-zume-gitae, which is same as Hon-sanmai-awase-gitae with the addition of back steel.